By Joan Nwagwu
The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has urged the United States to lift its longstanding economic embargo on Cuba to alleviate the hardship faced by ordinary citizens.
The organisation made the call in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Mr Joel Odigie, and made available to newsmen Abuja on Monday.
Odigie said the embargo had worsened economic hardship for ordinary Cubans by restricting livelihoods, production and access to essential goods, including medicines, while undermining workers’ welfare and dignity.
He said ordinary Cubans continued to bear the human and economic consequences of restrictions that affected their ability to earn a living, sustain production and obtain essential supplies.
“Ordinary Cubans have borne the human and economic consequences of restrictions that constrain livelihoods, production and access to essential goods,” Odigie said.
He added that the suffering of ordinary citizens should not be accepted as the price of political disagreements between countries.
“Their hardship cannot be treated as an acceptable cost of geopolitical disagreement,” he said.
Odigie explained that ITUC-Africa’s solidarity with Cuba was rooted in Pan-African internationalism, shared historical ties and the belief that sovereignty, self-determination and social justice were fundamental rights of every nation.
He said the issue extended beyond Cuba, describing the United Nations’ consideration of the embargo as a test of international law and the credibility of multilateralism.
According to him, sovereign equality and peaceful international cooperation must be upheld consistently to prevent powerful countries from imposing their will without regard for collective decisions.
“If power alone becomes the measure of what is permissible, the international order will cease to be a community of states governed by common rules,” he said.
The ITUC-Africa scribe said the embargo had affected Cuban workers’ wages, livelihoods and workplaces, as well as public services, access to medicines, essential supplies and opportunities available to young people.
He urged United Nations member states and relevant international institutions to move beyond repeated resolutions and diplomatic statements by implementing practical measures capable of easing restrictions and improving the living conditions of Cubans.
“The United Nations must not become a talk show in which resolutions are adopted year after year while the people concerned see no change,” Odigie said.
He called for renewed and credible diplomatic engagement consistent with the United Nations Charter, stressing that international solidarity should translate into measurable improvements in the lives of ordinary Cubans.
Odigie also emphasised the need to protect Cuban workers’ rights, including access to decent work, freedom of association, social protection and meaningful participation in decisions shaping their country’s future.
He said defending Cuba was inseparable from the African trade union movement’s broader struggle for a fairer international order in which international law was applied consistently and collective decisions produced tangible benefits.
“The people of Cuba need more than another expression of concern. They must see change,” he said.
Odigie reiterated that multilateralism would retain its legitimacy only when collective commitments were respected and international institutions translated their decisions into concrete improvements in the lives of affected populations.
